(January 2020) Episode 248 of the “opus project” is PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY. Mr. Saccharine Strings. Tchaikovsky is the Queen (band) of classical composers: very talented, wildly popular, played often, but merely gives a sugar (plum) rush that turns out to be empty calories.
Favorite piece: 1812 Overture
Favorite symphony: #5
Favorite balletic theme: Swan Lake
Compared to expectations: ↓
(January 2020) Episode 247 is POND. Yet another quality contemporary psychedelic band out of Perth, Australia. I like their fuzzy, garage-y sound of the early ’10s more than the synth pop that followed Hobo Rocket.
Favourite album: Beard, Wives, Denim
Favourite song: Fantastic Explosion of Time
Compared to expectations: same
(January 2020) Episode 246 is the BONZO DOG DOO-DAH BAND and THE RUTLES. I started this episode, and did these together, following the death of Neil Innes. The Bonzos were an oddball comedy outfit. The humor is mostly too old or too British (or both) for my comprehension, and so they’re mostly a historical curiosity. The Rutles, however, are timeless as the best-ever send-up of The Beatles. Their soundtrack album remains classic, and the follow-up is pretty good too.
Favourite Bonzos album: The Doughnut in Granny’s Greenhouse
Favourite Bonzos song: The Intro and the Outro*
Favourite Rutles album: The Rutles
Favourite Rutles song: Doubleback Alley
Compared to expectations: same
* Mike Oldfield fancied the “master of ceremonies” format so he used it on Tubular Bells, with the Bonzos’ Viv Standshall also performing the role there
(January 2020) Episode 245 is OH SEES (also known as OCS and Thee Oh Sees). One of my favorite bands of the ’10s; a good representation of the music I’ve been into in recent years, although its style is hard to describe. Their initial lo-fi experimentalism is not so interesting, but they hit the gas around 2010 with psychedelic garage-rock freakouts. The evolution to space- and prog-rock in the recent albums is excellent.
Favorite song: The Dream
Favorite album: Floating Coffin
Compared to expectations: ↑
(December 2019) Episode 244 is JIMMIE RODGERS. He is known as the “Father of Country Music” because of his immeasurable influence there. Much of the music itself, however, is indistinguishable from the blues, demonstrating that blues, country, folk, and later rock all emanate from the same authentic American musical tradition. Everything gets a yodel.
Favorite song: In the Jailhouse Now
Favorite ballad: I’ve Ranged, I’ve Roamed, I’ve Traveled
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2019) Episode 243 is JOHNNY CASH. If there were a Mount Rushmore of the Voices of America, he would be on it. I appreciate the independent, even rebellious, spirit of his long and storied career – resisting capture by corporate Nashville, collaborating with artists across genres (U2, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, etc.), exploring concept albums. I love his musical expression of a personal ideology that defied political categorization: respect for the forgotten/downtrodden/persecuted man (exemplified by “Man in Black” and “Bitter Tears”) – a rare wokeness for its time and his genre. But most of all his songs are just plain enjoyable (even though I’m not a fan of country music). This was a long one, at ~80 albums.
Favorite album: American Recordings
Favorite song: Man in Black
Favorite duet: If I Were A Carpenter (with June)
Worst album: The Rambler
Favorite Period: Sun recordings
Least favorite genre: gospel
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2019) Episode 242 is HÜSKER DÜ. This is what I should have been listening to in the 1980s instead of what I was listening to. Well, at least the first two kick-ass punk-ish albums; the rest were rather meh. Highlight is drummer Grant Hart until he let the gated reverb ruin it. IMHO Hüsker Dü is America’s The Jam.
Favorite album: Zen Arcade
Favorite song: I’ll Never Forget
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2019) Episode 241 is AARON COPLAND. I admit my first exposure was through Emerson, Lake & palmer. He is deservedly dubbed the “Dean of American Composers” for incorporating American themes and landscapes in his compositions. I like those, but I prefer his more abstract, modernist works.
Favorite work: Symphony #3
Favorite short piece: Fanfare for the Common Man
Favorite chamber piece: Quartet for Strings
Favorite ballet: Appalachian Spring
Compared to expectations: same
(November 2019) Episode 240 is GUSTAV MAHLER. He composed only songs and symphonies but, wow, what symphonies. Each one is a full course meal with several helpings — like a final culmination of the recipe refined by Beethoven (including the vocal elements), or an opera of his idol Wagner condensed into 75 minutes (without the theatrics).
Favorite piece: Symphony #5
Compared to expectations: same
(November 2019) Episode 239 is NAZZ. This psychedelic-tinged group out of Philadelphia enjoyably touched the sounds of the late 60s. As the launching pad for Todd Rundgren, Nazz also, not surprisingly, previewed power pop and soft rock.
Favorite album: Nazz
Favorite song: Open My Eyes
Compared to expectations: same
Opus Project 